Portable tripods have been used to stably mount cameras, surveying instruments, and other devices for many years. A mount typically serves as the co-terminus of three tripod legs. The mount can couple a camera or other device. The three legs may be adjustable by hinging, telescoping, or by other method. In photography, tripods are used for long exposure, panoramic, portrait, and other shots where the camera must be stably positioned.
Extension arms, including selfie-sticks, allow a user to mount and extend the camera to vantage points a photographer could not otherwise achieve by handheld photography. A handle and device mounting means comprise the respective ends of the extension arm. The use of such extension arm permits a user to securely grip the camera and film themselves while active. Extension arms with multiple arm segments may permit telescoping or articulation of the mount relative to the handle.
Photographers may want to capture both images requiring the stability of a tripod and the mobility of an extension arm. Devices exist which attempt to provide both tripod and extension arm functionality. Such devices may provide a tripod stand within the extension arm, allowing the arm to serve as the storage container for the tripod legs. These devices require a duplication of parts to function as both a tripod and extension arm. Such devices also limit the size and structure of the tripod legs, as all three legs must fit within one arm segment. This forces tripod legs to be shorter and narrower than is required to provide a stable base in many environments. Some tripods may provide articulating leg segments. But the leg segments are not modular with the ability to couple with the other leg segments to form an extension arm.
The current invention provides three arm segments capable of functioning as both tripod legs and an adjustable extension arm. The arm segments may be detached from the mount. The arm segments can couple to form articulating joints. The room necessary to store and transport a device with tripod and extension arm functionality is dramatically decreased over separate devices providing the two functionalities. Conversion from a tripod configuration to an extension arm configuration only requires removal of two arm segments and the coupling of those arm segments together.